Good rating for support service after inspection

Ben O’Connell

An Alnwick-based home-care service run by the county council has been rated as good by the independent regulator for England.

North Locality Homecare (Alnwick) is among the latest batch of adult social-care providers that have been inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under its new approach.

As previously reported by the Gazette, under the CQC’s new inspection programme, all of the country’s care providers are being given a rating of outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate – the same as those used for schools by Ofsted.

Each facility or service is rated as to whether it is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, as well as an overall rank.

North Locality Homecare (Alnwick) is a short-term support service providing domiciliary care and support to people in their own homes, often following hospital discharge. It was inspected in November and the report, which was published last Friday, rated the service as good in all five categories and overall.

The service was safe as ‘people told us they felt safe when staff visited and supported them. Staff had received training in relation to safeguarding adults and said they would report any concerns’.

It was effective as ‘people told us staff had the skills required to support their care. Staff confirmed they received regular training and development’.

In terms of being caring, ‘people told us they were happy with the care and support they received from the care workers. People said care staff were friendly, supportive and flexible in their approach to support’.

‘People’s needs had been assessed and care plans were in place which identified the goals people wished to achieve’, meaning the service was also responsive.

‘There had been one formal complaint received by the provider in the last 12 months and this had been dealt with appropriately. People told us they had no concerns about the service’.

Finally, in terms of being well-led, the service was good as ‘the registered manager and senior staff undertook a range of checks to ensure people’s care was monitored.

‘Staff told us they enjoyed their jobs and were supported by managers and supervisors. They told us they worked well as a team and the atmosphere in the service was supportive’.